Taverham Dental Health Clinic, located in Norfolk, will discontinue all NHS treatment for both adults and children starting from January 1, 2024. The decision was made due to rising costs resulting from a lack of investment in NHS dentistry by successive governments. As a result, all NHS check-up appointments after November 30 have been cancelled. Instead, patients have been offered membership plans ranging from £14 to £42 a month for adults and £8.50 a month for under-18s, with joining fees of £9.50. This news has been described as a major blow for the area by Stuart Clancy, a Conservative county councillor for Taverham.
This move reflects a growing trend of privatisation in healthcare, disproportionately affecting clinics in Norfolk. Stuart Clancy expressed dissatisfaction with the current NHS contract and is seeking a meeting with the clinic and Integrated Care Board to understand the situation better. While a new dental school at the University of East Anglia and increased dental provision in Taverham might help in the medium term, they do not address the immediate problem of toothache for people in the area. Mark Jones, a campaigner with the Toothless in Norfolk action group, criticized the news and emphasized the urgent need for financial support and contract revisions to address the dental crisis in Norfolk.
Labour MP for Norwich South, Clive Lewis, has previously referred to Norfolk as a “dental desert.” Labour leader Keir Starmer unveiled pre-election policies aimed at rescuing dentistry from the immediate crisis. These policies include providing 700,000 urgent dental appointments, reforming the NHS dental contract, incentivizing dentists to work in areas with the greatest need, introducing supervised toothbrushing in schools, and shifting the focus to prevention. In contrast, the Tory government’s NHS dental recovery plan, which aims to improve access and increase the number of NHS dentists, has not yet been published.
Toothless in Norfolk’s Mark Jones criticizes the government for not fulfilling their promise to present a recovery strategy for NHS dentistry. Patients in Norfolk are struggling to access dental care on the NHS, and without immediate action, NHS dentistry may be permanently lost. The government’s proposed solution includes granting dental hygienists the power to administer medicines without prescriptions, but specific measures have not been outlined. The situation highlights the urgent need for comprehensive action and financial support to address the immediate crisis and revise the dental contracts to ensure access to affordable oral healthcare for all.
